It Is All About Being Dominant

New York Ranger's Director of Scouting and Player Development Gordie Clark says it perfectly:

"Dominate at the level you are currently at before moving up to the next level"

For us at Prospect Park; it is one of our most basic of principles as it is a sign that a prospect is ready to advance to the next challenge. It does not guarantee that a prospect is going to be a superstar but it opens up a window for us to gain an insight as to what the possibilities that the prospect might offer.

We have all seen what happens when teams rush prospects to the NHL before they are ready and the damages that can result to their development. We have no control over what the NHL teams do but we do know that if we use this as a way of gauging a prospect's potential then we can gain important insights that otherwise we might take for granted.

Anyone can score a ton of points but can they score when their team needs a goal? Can they score "the goal" the one that seals a win or giving life where there might not be any?

Both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders have prospects who are showing those signs whether it is Chris Kreider at Boston College or a Kirill Kabanov in Shawinigan; when they "bring it" they can control a game with their play.

And quite honestly it is what both teams are so badly missing right now; that player who is going to not look at others but rather will take it upon himself to put the team on his back and carry them.

Ranger's First Star Chris Kreider

When we said that we wanted Chris Kreider (2009 1st) to return to Boston College for another year; it was because we felt he had not begun to showcase the talent we know he has. Chris Kreider is one of those players who when you watch him take over a game you just want to rewind the game and watch it over and over.

Ask the poor Maine Black Bears what happened to them on Friday night as Kreider and his linemates basically won the game in the first period as top ranked Boston College jumped out to a 3-0 lead and cruised to a 4-1 lead.

Kreider was involved in all 3 of those goals and then in the 3rd period showed us something we have been waiting to see for 3 years. We saw some snarl out of him as Kreider even showed us some temper when Maine tried to push him around and Kreider pushed back.

Kreider had a goal and 2 assists in earning his 2nd straight 3 point game as well as his 2nd straight "first star". We have more on Kreider and the rest of a pretty good Friday night for Ranger prospects right here.

Islanders First Star John Persson

When the Edmonton Oilers decided to keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rather than return him to the Red Deer Rebels then John Persson (2011 5th) was going to be one of the Rebels who was going to have to bring his game up a notch.

The 6'2 190 left winger from Mora Sweden earned the game's 3rd star as Persson went by the numbers 1-2-3 +4 to help his Rebels to an 8-2 whipping of the Seattle Thunderbirds. Persson just might be the only prospects leading his team in scoring that nobody knows anything about.

Persson jumped past another hot prospect Anders Lee to become the leading scorer among Islander prospects with his performance against Seattle. At 5-11-16, Persson is joining some very talented young prospects that the Islanders are stockpiling.

So the recap of Persson's efforts as well as the rest of the Islander prospect story can be found right here.

(Kreider- NHL Media, Persson- Red Deer Rebels)